Automatic apparatus for controlling and operating the points of electric railways and tramways.



No. 837,522. PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906. W. H. TURNER, R. E. DIXON &-T. B.STEWART. AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AND OPERATING THE POINTS OFELECTRIC RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZ'I. 190B.

' z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVE N TORS:

wuuan HERBERT TURNER wowamvn zzamnu:

Tito/m5 BELL STEWART R 2 414 A nrrmcmzr WITNESSES: QQQM J PATENTED DEC.4, 1906.

W. H. TURNER, R. 'E. DIXON & T. B. STEWART. AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FORCONTROLLING AND OPERATING THE POINTS OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS.

AYPLIOATIOH FILED J'ULYZ'I, 1908.

2 SHEETS-8331? 2.

INVENTORS:

WILLIAM HERBERT TURNER 'ROWLRND EDWRRD DIXON.

HOMAS BELL STEWART PER IITTOR NE! UNITED STAMENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HERBERT TURNER, ROWLAND EDWARD DIXON, AND THOMAS BELL STEWART,OF LEEDS, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AND OPERATING THE POINTS OF ELECTRICRAILWAYS AN-D TRAMWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1906.

Application filed July 27, 1906. Serial No. 328,050.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, WVILLIAM HERBERT TURNER, ROWLAND EDWARD DIXON, andTHOMAS BELL STEWART, subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland,residing at Leeds, in the county of York, England, have invented a newand useful Automatic Apparatus for Controlling and Operating the Pointsof Electric Railways and Tramways, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to apparatus for automatically controlling andoperating the points of overhead-cable electric railways and tramways,and is a further development of or improvement upon the apparatus shownand described in the specifications of our prior patents, Nos. 747,795and 747,796, dated December 22, 1903, and No. 792,741, dated June 20,1905.

Figure 1 is a front elevation illustrating the general arrangement ofour improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section,of the street-box a hereinafter referred. to, showing details of theelectromechanical switching devices contained therein for operating thepoints. Fig. 3 is a detached front elevation of the fuse-board shown inFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation in section of the rail-point d andits connections.

Similar letters and numerals of reference are employed to indicatecorresponding parts throughout the several views. 1;

The construction of our improved apparatus is as follows: The cast-ironstreet-box a contains a powerful electromagnet or solenoid b, which iswound with specially-insulated Wire of suflicient size to take safelythe total car-current. The soft-iron core 0 1s ofa suitable size andstroke to pull over both the rail and the overhead points and isconnected to the rail-tongue d by means of beamlever e, compensatingspring-rod f, crank g, rod h, lever i, and push-pin 7', which latterpushes the said tongue (I over against a compression-spring 7c. Thetongue of the overhead frog Zis also connected to the core 0 by means ofa flexible steel cable m, which extends from the frog Z down a steeltube n into a box 0 and which is attached to an extension p of thebeam-lever 6, so that in all cases the overhead frog Z is operatedsimultaneously with the rail-tongue d. Afiexible steelroller. chain gfrom hand pull-lever r is connected by means of multiplying-pulleys s sto an arm 15 of the beam-lever 6, so that in case of emergency thepoints can bepulled over by hand. The small magnet 11, has a core '0,which is loosely connected at 'w (against the pull of a spring as) to aratchetlever g, which latter is adapted to engage with a catch 2 on thebeam-lever e. The

emergency release-handle 1 is provided for the purpose of releasing thepoints in the event of a motorman taking his car onto the wrong track. Ahalf-turn of this handle 1 releases the catch 2 of the beam-lever c fromthe ratchet-lever y, permitting the points to be returned to theirnormal position.

The electrical connections are as follows: At a point approximatelyforty-five feet in advance of the point-tongue d an insulatedcontact-plate or switch 2 is fixed on the overhead-trolley wire 3. Asecond insulated contact-plate 4 is also fixed on the overheadtrolleywire 3 on the branch route some two or three feet past the frog Z. Acable 5 is run from some convenient part of the live trolley-wire 3,down the pole-bracket, and into the box a, and is connected to thelefthand terminal of the danger-plug 6, and through the fuse 7, largemagnet-winding I), back to the middle terminal of the plug 6, and thenceby a cable 8 to the contact-plate 2. A cable 9 is similarly run from thecontact-plate 4, down the pole-bracket, and into the box a, and isconnected to the right-hand terminal of the plug 6 through the fuse 10and magnet-coil a, and thence to earth or rail at 13.

The action of the apparatus is as follows: A motorman approaching ajunction and not wishing to enter the branch route will on nearing thecontact-plate 2 switch his motorcontroller off and coast through thesaid contact-plate 2, thereby not interfering with the points in anyway. Should he, however, wish to turn into the branch route, he would onapproaching the contact-plate 2 keep his motor-controller on, andcurrent would then flow from the line 3 by way of cable 5, plug 6, fuse7, through the magnet-coil I), back through lug 6, cable 8,contact-plate 2, trolley-whee 11, and down by Way of trolleyboom 12through the car-motors to rail. The electromagnet I) would therebybecome energized and pull down its core 0, causing the beam-lever e (bymeans of its catch 2) to engage with the ratchet-lever 1 these movementssimultaneously actuating both the rail and overhead points and lockingthem se-' curely and eflectually in position (independent of theelectrical circuit) for the car to pass through into the branch route.The car having passed the oints now comes to the releasing contactate 4.The unlocking and reversal of the points is effected abso lutelyautomatically and is independent of the motorman. The trolley-wheel 11,makmg contact with the plate 4, allows current to flow from thetrolley-wire 3 by way of the said contact plate 4, cable 9, plu 6, fuse10, through the magnet-coil u, an thence to earth or rail at 13, thusdrawing in the core 12 of the said magnet u and releasing the points,which return to their normal positions under the influence of therail-spring k.

We claim v 1. In an electromechanical apparatus for controlling andoperating the points of overhead-cable electric railways and tramways,the combination, with a solenoid 1) arranged in circuit with thetrolley-wire 3 and with an insulated contact-plate or switch 2 thereonand having point connections comprising beam-lever e, compensatingspring-rod f, crank g, rod h, lever 11, push-pin j, compression-springk, and flexible cable m so as (under control of the motorman) to actuatethe points on the approach of a car, of the lockmg devices comprisingratchet-lever y, catch 2, and emergency release-handle 1 by which thepoints are locked securely in such position (independent of the saidelectrical circuit) for the passage of the car into the branch route,the reversing-magnet at having core 42 and spring :1; arranged inconnection with the said locking devices and in circuit with a secondinsulated contact-plate or switch 4 upon the trolley-wire 3 so as toautomatically release the points after passage of the car into thebranch route, and the emergency actuating mechanism comprising handpull-lever r, flexible chain g, arm t, and multiplyin -pulleys s s,substantially as herein describe with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

2. The combination, with the trolley-wire A provided with an insulatedcontact-plate and a frog, and the rails provided with a switch; of asolenoid arranged in circuit with the said trolley-wire andcontact-plate, intermediate operating devices connecting the core of thesaid solenoid with the said frog and with the said switch, a pivotedlocking-lever which normally prevents the said core from sliding, andmeans for moving the said lever on its pivot to release the said core. 7

WILLIAM HERBERT TURNER. ROWLAND EDWARD DIXON. THOMAS BELL STEWART.Witnesses:

ALLAN BENNETT, FRED. T. BAINES.

